Latest Journal Update

Student Tribute

Well, it's been awhile since I've written on this blog. It's been a busy month finishing the school year at the college and welcoming our new baby into the family! I thought I would share this wonderful tribute that sums of the year for our student fellowship group at Colby-Sawyer, written by our group president and worship leader, Serene. I've been amazed at their resilience and spiritual growth since I came back in mid February. It's been an honor to work with these students - they give me so much more than I give to them! Here's the email:

Hello
everyone, I just want to praise God for a wonderful year we had. Most,
if not all of you would be home by now and I hope you have a great
summer.
These are just some of my thoughts on the past year:

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 - We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

It was a tough one. We were going through the motions in the fall
semester, almost crippled by Benny's condition. Cindy and Benny were not
there with us to give their wise counsel and support. We missed them
but we knew it was a season and that God was going
to bring us through it. And He opened the doors for Tom Bates, who
started working with Safety in the fall as well, to step in as our
advisor. Needless to say, although fellowship seemed stagnant, and even
shrinking at times, God was doing His deepest work
in our hearts, preparing us for what was to come. As we neared the end
of the fall semester, quite a few of us felt that it was time. What do I
mean by that? It was time to step up, time for us to take hold of what
God had for us. Time for revival, in our fellowship
as well as on our campus. We got similar visions: of seeing more people
come to Christ and for the body of Christ on campus to rise up. As the
spring semester commenced, God started bringing more people to
fellowship and we knew it was just the beginning of
something great. But 2 weeks into school, what we feared would happen
became a reality... Benny passed away.

It was not easy, we cried, we laughed, but God was holding us in our
pain and He gave us each other to hold on to. I have not felt closer to
Him or even the fellowship till it happened.... And then I realized that
even through Benny's death, God was working
- He brought people together. By His grace, we did not allow it to bring
us down but push us to Him. We looked to Him in the darkness and soon
that darkness became light.

This is an excerpt from one of my journal entries a couple days after Benny's passing:

'The greatest miracle in Benny's life is his life - that he remained
faithful even in his pain and suffering - that he stayed close to You
and rejoiced through it all. Death often lets us see things in a new
light - see You. You are slowly bringing healing
to hearts that are broken because of this. There is grieving but there
is also rejoicing.'

A new season was springing up after that very cold, dark and long
winter. And the Ablaze Conference we had was not the culmination of it,
but the spark of things about to take place. He is making all things
new.

I pray that the summer would be one of growth for us, both individually
and collectively. May we return stronger in the Lord than before. May we
continue to seek Him above all else for in Him we live, move and have
our being. Please keep the leadership team
in prayer as we continue to seek God's vision for the group. Many thanks
to our advisors, Cindy and Tom who have been incredible! And thank you,
just for being a part of this wonderful group... We are the body of
Christ!